I woke up feeling so good. The blankets on the bed felt good on my naked body. Naked? I sat up abruptly, and found my clothes on a chair next to me. Michael was asleep in another chair behind the door with a sword in his hand.

"Michael!" I whispered, "Michael!" He jumped up and threw his sword. It barely missed the side of my head. I was so scared I almost peed right there and then. He saw my horrified expression and apologized. I gulped and asked, "What happened last night? How did I get out of these clothes?"

"Don't worry. A maid came in and undressed you. She ordered me out so I didn't see anything. Until now that is." He nodded at my chest. My face felt so hot that I'm sure that there should've been flames on my face. I lifted the blanket to cover my exposed chest. I was silent for a while, trying to live down the embarrassment. He made an attempt to speak, but that made me realize how angry I was at him. "Why didn't you tell me? You just sat there and looked!"

"Relax now. It was a rare sight. One so young yet so grown."

"You know Michael, I thought you were different. You treated me so nicely, but now I realize you're just a pig."

"How dare you speak to me like that? I am the commander in chief of the king's royal army. I will not be spoken to in such a manner by a woman!" I just wanted to cry. I looked away and dried my eyes.

"Please leave. I would like to get dressed." I heard the scrape of a chair and the door opening and close. I got out tentatively. I put my clothes on (they stank). I decided I was tired of having to live mundanely. If I could control anything, then...

I concentrated on my body and felt the dirt and grime caking, and then flaking off my body. I sent it out the window. I decided enough was enough. I was leaving this bloody place. I looked out the window and saw that the streets were filled with lots of people. Oh well. I climbed out and lowered myself out and onto the ledge beneath my window. A small crowd of spectators had gathered around the base of the inn. I dropped the last 2 feet to the ground. I started walking away, when Michael saw me. I broke into a run. I made it to the outskirts before I was discovered. Michael was gaining ground, so I decided to cut into the forest. The trees were very close together, so when he was scrambling through the undergrowth, I took to the branches high above. It was all so natural. I didn't even think about these things anymore. One second I'll be on the ground, the next, soaring through the air. I flew to the topmost branch and stayed close to the trunk, hiding myself in its shadow. Michael ran past the tree without even looking around. After 20 minutes, I slowly lowered myself to the ground and ran in the direction perpendicular to him. I ran 3 days without stopping, enhancing my speed, until I came upon a small cave with a lamp at its entrance. I walked in, prepared to strike out. The tunnel was extremely long. It felt like hours had passed before I exited into what appeared to be a little village. The houses seemed to have been grown from the tree itself. The ones above were connected with bridges.

I warily crept around in the shadows of trees. I saw an old lady working outside a little house. She was grinding a blue stone into powder. I watched her work for a long time.

Then suddenly she turned around and looked directly at my hiding spot.

"You can come out now, that was a slight demonstration on how immortals make the best of their time." I opened my mouth to protest but she waved it down.

"There's no use trying to hide it. You are giving off strong energy, the strongest I've ever felt. You probably must have been displaced in time, no? I've seen countless people like you. Let me tell you, going forward to your own time is impossible. It takes far more energy to go forward than back, in fact, it's a miracle you've survived going back so far."

"How do I get back?"

"It's a long process, but I hope that by the time the preparations for your return are complete, you will have mastered all I have to teach you. Time travel is an imprecise practice; you could end up a hundred years from your time."

"I don't care! I just want to get home. I'll do whatever I need to." She smiled at that and led me into her house, and that's when I began my journey of pure power.

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